Favorite readers from Bigger and DITHOR 4/5?

[Alison in KY]

Can you please share with me your favorite Bigger extension package readers and DITHOR 4/5 readers, I'm not sure I can afford everything .

[Kathleen]

We didn't do the extension pack for Bigger, but we did read Guns for General Washington as our "adventure" for storytime. We LOVED that one!! I got Buffalo Knife for Grant to read on his own this summer. He loved it...actually he said, "This is the BEST book I've ever read, mom!!!!" So it got a great review from him. I believe that one may be out of print right now though.

We're using the boy pack for DITHOR 4/5 this year. We've read Jed Smith and Dragons of the Deep so far. Both are also wonderful! One thought if you don't want to get everything now... Are you going to be doing DITHOR daily? If you're only going to do it 3x per week, you'll only need 5 genres this year, so that would cut it down a little. Dragons of the Deep has some pretty B-I-G words to pronounce in it...it was definitely a stretch for Grant. But it didn't slow him down at all, and he was on the edge of his seat learning about all these creatures. And I know he was comprehending well. Anyway, depending on the reading level of your child, you may want to make that one to wait until the end of the pack for. Had I not been using the "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" method of doing school, I probably should have shelved that one for next year. But when we started the year, I layed out the books and let Grant choose 5 genres to do this year and told him the rest were for next year. He couldn't wait to read that book!!

Kathleen

[3musketeers]

Alison in KY,
We mixed it up this year. I pulled a few books from the 4/5 DITHOR pack and a few from level 3 even though my son is a strong reader and would be in 4th grade at public school. I am also having him read some of the extensions but not all. Here are some of our favs so far this year and from past years. I am afraid my list may not help you narrow it down. Too many good choices.

Classic Pack:
Ben and Me
Encyclopedia Brown
Homer Price (One of our families all time favorite read alouds!)

Boy Interest:
Snow Treasure (Alot of action...on the edge of your seat)
The Indian in the Cupboard ( Our boys loved this one)

Girl Interest: (We have read some of these in the past even though we have boys)
Stuart Little (My ds read this and wanted it never to end.)

Extension Pack:
A Child's Story of America (I love this book, but I think The First Book In American Hist. and Stories of Great Am. are sufficient if you are trying stay within your budget).
Toliver's Secret (I was up until 2 in the morning reading this because I had to see how it ended).

Level 3 or 4/5 pack DITHOR:
Sara, Plain , and Tall
Pocahontas and all the D'Aulaire books
One Small Square Tropical Rain Forest ( We love this series)
Owls in the Family
Sign of the Beaver (which we are reading right now)

These are just some of our family's favorites. The others we either have not read yet or were "good books" but maybe not "all time favorites".

Living by grace,
Cindy

[juliekay]

Hi Alison!

We loved Bigger, AND we found a lot of the books at our local library. So, if you have a great library system like we do you would only need to purchase the Economy Package and with a few exceptions you can find the rest at the library. If you are using the extension package you would most likely need to purchase A Child's History of the World, Almost Home & Planet Earth. You would also need to purchase your English, Math, Little Pillows & Hymns for A Kid's Heart. All that said, here are some of the books my older boys really liked & talked about are:
From the Extension Package
The New Americans - local library
Ben & Me - local library audio book
Guns for General Washington - local library
Pedro's Journal - local library
Almost Home - only 1 son (12yo) read this and really liked it even though the story is about a girl & her family.
From DITHR 4/5
Buffalo Knife - local library
Toothpaste Millionaire - local library
The Sign of the Beaver - local library - on audio book
Scripture Sleuth - purchase usually necessary
Some of the Storytime books that we all enjoyed were:
Indian in the Cupboard - local library
Scripture Sleuth books - had to purchase - my 7 year old LOVED these stories!
More Stories from Grandma's Attic- local library
Justin Morgan Had A Horse - local library

Have fun!

[Allison TX]

Hi Alison. Our favorites were Bud and Me, By the Great Horn Spoon, and Guns for General Washington. Bud and Me was such a wonderful book, I think it was my husbands favorite (he read it aloud to the boys). It is a more expensive book, but so worth it.

Allison